


Sic Parvis Magna

by SpiderMac



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Uncharted - AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:01:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 17,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23498677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderMac/pseuds/SpiderMac
Summary: Michelle Jones (or MJ as she was more commonly known) was sure this was the article that would give her the satisfaction of being a journalist. She had grown up watching Indiana Jones and had always wanted to be a treasure hunter but soon realised that is not really a job that would help her keep her survive a normal day. Not to mention most of the treasures are still legends with no clues to where they might be. But the universe was giving MJ one chance to prove herself, because a few hours ago she got a call from her boss Robbie telling her to follow a lead about Blackbeard’s famous Treasure. The lead happened to be Peter Parker, who has been credited with the finding of El Dorado with the help of one Anthony “Tony” Stark.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Cassie Lang, Michelle Jones & Tony Stark, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 33
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1: Uncharted

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first time writing. And I'll be trying to not copy the games, although there is going to be references to them.  
> Any sort of help is highly apprecitated, and I'll be trying to update this as much as I can considering I still don't have too much free time even now.

Michelle Jones (or MJ as she was more commonly known) was sure this was the article that would give her the satisfaction of being a journalist. She had grown up watching Indiana Jones and had always wanted to be a treasure hunter but soon realised that is not really a job that would help her keep her survive a normal day. Not to mention most of the treasures are still legends with no clues to where they might be. But the universe was giving MJ one chance to prove herself, because a few hours ago she got a call from her boss Robbie telling her to follow a lead about Blackbeard’s famous Treasure. The lead happened to be Peter Parker, who has been credited with the finding of El Dorado with the help of one Anthony “Tony” Stark.

Peter Parker was relatively new to the scene of treasure hunting. He could remember as an orphan, he had to distract him from the bullies that picked on him. And the way he dealt with bullying was to study. Since then he had a keen interest in history and chemistry. To ensure that he had enough money to move out when he was at least 20 he started working. The work also meant that he could save up money for his Aunt May and Uncle Ben who had looked after him since his parents left him. A few months after he turned 20, he bid farewell to his last living relatives, to seek out mysteries that taunted him. That’s how he met Tony Stark, ex military and a part time scientist.

Tony Stark never thought he would ever be a family man, but there was something about Peter that made him care about the young adult more than anyone else he had ever known. Although Peter certainly didn’t look like a young adult due to his baby face and his hair seemed to curl a bit at the front. Tony knew Peter was smart, he had seen him work his way out of a seemingly impossible situation, however Peter also had a body to go with his sharp mind. Which always caught people off guard and gave them the upper hand.

The thing that caught out MJ about Tony was how casual he was for an ex military. She would have thought someone of Tony’s age would be way more strict and disciplined than he is. It is not to say Tony isn’t disciplined, he knew when and how to negotiate and get the most out of a deal, which also worked well for MJ cause now she gets to go on an adventure and write a killer article about it.

MJ asks, as she was getting her oxygen tanks ready for diving “So Stark, you think this is the best lead to start off with? I mean people already have boarded the ship”

Tony replies “Well in a way yeah, it all depends on what you guys find on the ship”.

“Ok, and what does that mean?” MJ inquires.

Which Peter answers while still getting ready “We will cross that bridge when we get there. And the ship is a good place to start, we could look around the captain’s cabin and actually the whole ship. Blackbeard could have hid a clue anywhere on this ship, so the people that don’t really look anywhere else won’t find it”.

MJ asks him “You do realise that Blackbeard has written about the fact only he and the Devil know where the treasure is?”

Peter replies “Yeah, and when you are a pirate,I’m pretty sure you don’t want anyone to steal your treasure while you are alive. Sure, It may be true that he never wrote it down where the treasure is, but if we could find one map or anything like a map, we could narrow down where his treasure could be by a process of elimination. And I've always wanted to see his ship. You ready?”.

“Yep let me just get my camera ready and we can be off” MJ responds.

”Right kid, I’m gonna be up here, ready to give you a heads up in case we have to hurry back up” Tony tells Peter. 

“Right, just give us the heads up so we can return as soon as possible” Peter tells him.

“Wait, why do we need to get a heads up?” MJ asks.  
.  
“Well you see the thing is we are going pretty close to a hotspot of sorts. And within that hotspot there tends to be sharks and other predators. ” Peter answers.

“WHAT?” MJ raises her voice, “And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me this before I came?”  
“Of course not, it just slipped my mind” replied Peter as if he had fought a shark before. “And if you haven’t bought anything to protect yourself with, then I question if you are actually fit for this job.”

“Look I’m pretty sure you mean a gun, which I’m against using-” MJ started off but she was interrupted by Peter. 

“Yeah, I did mean a gun, but I made a device that lets me hold down a shark. They work against people as well, and the only two problems with this is if two or more sharks decide to team up then we have to swim away as fast as possible, and they normally last around an hour, but since we are underwater they dissolve more quickly. I call them web shooters and they are essentially as strong as Spider silk.” Peter stared at her for a second before the realisation hit him why she didn’t bring anything to protect herself.

MJ was impressed by this because Peter Parker really cared about not harming the sealife. A quality that she thought no treasure hunter would have in order to survive. Plus she would be lying if she said she didn’t take up on the offer because she desperately wanted to feel the adrenaline flow through her veins. She was also a bit annoyed that he was able to read her like an open book.

“Well, go on. The sooner you dive, the sooner you are done” Tony said as he tried to hurry them into the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean.


	2. Chapter 2: The Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To say that the ocean was cold at the depths they were at, was an understatement. But they had to push on before any trouble arose. Luckily for Peter and MJ, the ship was not too far off the coast of North Carolina. Which meant they didn’t have to dive too deep.
> 
> “Holy shit” exclaimed Peter when he saw Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship which is arguably the most famous pirate ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go, another chapter. I will be trying my best to update it daily. But if I can't get any ideas, then I'll try to update it at least once a week.

To say that the ocean was cold at the depths they were at, was an understatement. But they had to push on before any trouble arose. Luckily for Peter and MJ, the ship was not too far off the coast of North Carolina. Which meant they didn’t have to dive too deep.

“Holy shit” exclaimed Peter when he saw Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship which is arguably the most famous pirate ship.

“Don’t drool Parker” came MJ’s voice over the radio, ”We still haven’t got on the ship”

“Yeah I know” said Peter while still trying to get over the fact that he is actually seeing Queen Anne’s Revenge. Something he had wanted to see for a really long time.

“Do you though? I mean I wouldn’t blame you if you don't speak for the rest of the dive” Tony sassed back, and you could faintly hear a song playing in the background.

“Hey, I think I’m perfectly capable of speaking for the rest of the dive. Also are you seriously listening to a song right now?” Peter responds.

“Pete, this is the best time to listen to music with no interruptions from other people saying AC/DC is an old band, and I should listen to something more modern” Tony tells them.

“If you are done bantering, maybe we could start the search for clues” MJ advised Tony and Peter.

“Yeah kid, listen to her.”Tony says to Peter “MJ is given the responsibility of making sure you don’t drown to death, because you ran out of oxygen in your excitement”.

“Come on Tony, don’t gang up with her to bully me” Peter replies “And we are already on the ship with ¾ of the tank left. MJ let's start with the Captain’s Cabin and see if we can find something there”.

To say Captain’s Cabin was empty, was an overstatement. To someone who is just looking at a shipwreck with no idea of the history it would be true. But for Peter and MJ, the Cabin was almost as good as the treasure itself. Books in the bookshelves that look damaged due to the time, pieces of ceiling and floor breaking off, wardrobes that are half empty with only some clothes left, a bed with nothing but an empty frame. And most importantly the Captain’s Table.

It would be where Blackbeard would have written about his lost treasure. The table was made out of wood, and seemed to be in a pretty bad shape. The table has a few drawers that were empty, and there was nothing else remarkable.  
“Wait we have to check the table and room before we move on to somewhere else on the ship” Peter briefs MJ.

“Ok, where should we start?” MJ responds.

“The table, it’s where he would have written about his last days, and the treasure” Peter says slowly, “And after that we can check the bookshelves, they don’t look like they have been raided yet”.

“Ok, should we split up, so we can cover more ground?” MJ asks

“Yeah sure, I’ll take the bookshelf -” before Peter could finish MJ interrupts him.

“Do you mind if I take the bookshelf, it’s just that I love reading books. And I have dreamt of reading books that belonged to pirates” she explains shyly.

“Ok, just make sure not to release Blackbeard’s ghost upon us while searching” Peter responds.

“Haha, very funny Parker” MJ cheekily replies.

Peter immediately starts looking below the table to see if he could have missed something, while MJ starts taking a few books randomly and see if there was a note hidden between the pages. Peter starts tapping on the wood to see if there is a difference in sound when he taps at other places on the table. But he couldn’t find any differences and just when he was about to give up, he heard a different sound. And upon closer inspection he saw the wood was not the same, there was a small difference that would require excellent hearing and eyesight to notice. Peter quickly removes the wood, and sees a torn piece of paper. There was some inscription on the paper that was hard to make out, but he knew where he had to go next. Peter had found one clue.

“MJ, I got a clue” Peter exclaims overjoyed.

“Peter, I think there is something here as well.” MJ responds.

Peter goes towards MJ, and then looks at one of the books MJ took out of the shelf. It had another torn piece of paper. Similar to the first one, but with a different way of how it was torn. MJ and Peter share a look, understanding that this was a different clue.

“Ok, we’ll look at what the inscriptions are when we get back on land” Peter explains while looking at the oxygen meter on his tank, which said ¼ of oxygen remaining.

Then he and MJ left so they won’t run out of oxygen. And while on the way back, Peter saw something massive move. He grabbed MJ by her arm realising it was a shark, and swam up as fast as possible. But the massive shark was catching up to them, and then Peter shot his webs at the shark to buy some time to flee. But the shark tore through the webs with little effort.  
This made Peter double his efforts at webbing the shark, that looked similar to a spider tying up a prey that was unfortunate enough to get stuck on it’s web. The moment he finished tying the shark up, he continued swimming up as fast as he could. And he breathed a sigh of relief when he made it to the top. Peter was helped on to the boat by Tony and MJ, he removed the mask to get some air.

“Seriously kid, that was a dangerous thing to do” Tony starts to criticise Peter. “You could have lost your life, and this entire thing could have failed”.

“I know Tony, but I had no choice” Peter replies, “The shark would have caught up to both of us”

“He is right, you know. We both would have died if it wasn’t for his strange alchemy practice” MJ tells Tony, which gets a laugh out of Peter.

“Plus I know where we have to go now” Peter starts off, “Italy, there is an auction house there. And I remember hearing from a friend that the vault has some Blackbeard’s stuff.”

“Wait, so we have to bet on Blackbeard’s stuff now to continue this?” MJ asks

“No, well you can if you want. But we are going to have to see one of Peter’s friends about this, so we can just you know steal it from there” Tony replies back

“Wait, steal?” MJ asks, “We have to steal to continue to find the treasure?”

“Well, yeah. And don’t worry about it. Those guys who buy the antiques don’t even do anything useful with antiques.” Peter answers.

“Ok, then who is this friend of yours?” MJ asks him

To which Peter replies “Ned Leeds”.


	3. Chapter 3: An Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned Leeds was an interesting person to say the least. He didn’t seem to have any filter while talking about how he knew about Blackbeard’s antiques. But what he lacked in being able to keep his sources a closely guarded secret, he made up for it in giving them the necessary information on how to get into the vault and all the other information to pull off a heist.

Ned Leeds was an interesting person to say the least. He didn’t seem to have any filter while talking about how he knew about Blackbeard’s antiques. But what he lacked in being able to keep his sources a closely guarded secret, he made up for it in giving them the necessary information on how to get into the vault and all the other information to pull off a heist.

Ned remembers when he met Peter for the first time. He was getting bullied for liking Star Wars and Peter came to his rescue. Well by rescue, Peter tried to intervene and got hit back by the bullies and their leader Eugene “Flash” Thompson. From then on Peter and Ned became close friends, both of them had found a friend that wouldn’t make judge for liking something that is not normal, or something that seems nerdy.

Peter knew he had always had to step in when someone is getting bullied. That’s how he met his best friend Ned Leeds. Ned was a short, hawaiian kid who was getting bullied for liking Star Wars. Peter got his ass kicked as usual but with that pain came a friendship that he wouldn’t change for anything. Ned was the only other person in his life other than his aunt and uncle who seemed to understand him.

“Hey man, again thanks for the information” Peter says to Ned, “I don’t think we could have got anything done if it wasn’t for you”.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m happy for you that you finally got to live your dreams and find a partner as well.” Ned replies  
“Oh, MJ and I aren’t together” Peter tells Ned while his face goes red.

“Don’t listen to him. Of course I am his partner, he is just trying to avoid the inevitable outcome” MJ jokes

“Yeah, I should say I’m surprised he didn’t blush or stammer over his words when they first met or when they banter” Tony adds

“If you guys are done making fun of me, I suggest we start planning for the heist so that we steal the Game Piece and get out of the auction house as quickly as possible” Peter says trying to break up the bantering.

The plan was simple, Peter and Ned would go into the auction to keep an eye out for security, while Tony would work as a guard on the other end of the auction house to make sure the exit is as smooth as possible. Meanwhile MJ will break into the vault and steal the Game Piece with the next clue and exit the auction house through the escape route as quick as she can.

“Ok, I should say that sounds too easy to be steal” MJ points out

“Yeah, I only briefed you with minimum details” Peter explains

“Why? I mean you realise you are not doing the stealing, so I need a bit more information on the layout of the place”

“Ok, fine. The vault is underground. Specifically 3 floors down, but the problem is the elevator doesn’t go down any further than the first underground floor. So you are gonna have to find your way to the vault. And before you ask they do have another elevator to the vault, but unless you wanna go through a room full of guards and type in the password to open the elevator I suggest you find an easier way” Peter starts to explain. “Also remember the vault has a window on the north side of the building which is not guarded because to reach there is suicidal, and by that I mean there is nothing to keep you safe while you try and open the window. If you want to enter the vault from the actual entrance, then you would need to find a keycard, and two sets of passwords from the head of security”.

“Wait, why does this place have so much protection?” MJ asks “I thought it was an auction house”

“It is an auction house” Ned starts off “But they also have a lot of money they have illegally acquired. Now it’s not like they haven’t been nearly exposed before, but Oscorp Auction House has bribed a lot of officials that lets them be in the clear.”

“Not to mention that Osborn probably keeps a close eye on the vault, so going to the vault from the front is probably a bad idea.” Tony adds

“You know what if you want to go through the front, Pete can knock out the power giving you around 20 seconds before the backup kicks in.” Ned tells MJ “But you should probably have the keycard and the passwords ready beforehand”

“Wait I thought, the keycard reader would also fail when the power goes out” MJ responds

“They didn’t have that when I checked it two days ago with the head of security”

“Ok, I'll go through the front. It’s the most straightforward way”

“Ok, cool so I’ll go in with Ned, and when you get to the first underground floor; I’ll leave for the power room so by the time you reach the vault with the keycard and password, I can knock out the power.” Peter says finalising the plan “Tony, just keep an eye on the head of security. Ned will keep an eye on the guests and security in the main hall. Right let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter (and the next one) is inspired by Uncharted 4, I do have something crazy for next chapter. I wanna do it and if I pull it off, you can expect an update tomorrow, if not then I'll be trying to do my best to make it workable and update it as soon as I can.


	4. Chapter 4: The Beginning of a Heist (Ned's Perspective)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned knew how dangerous this heist was. Of course it was dangerous not just for him, but for Peter, Tony and MJ as well. From the conversation he heard, while the others were making their way to the rendezvous point, he knew there was nothing to worry about. Tony came up with the plan, and he is ex military as well as a scientist. The plan was pretty foolproof. And Peter is the one leading everyone through the plan. Even though Peter used to be a shy highschooler and a person in general, if Peter had to lead a team, he could do it efficiently and like a true leader. MJ was the one Ned was worried about, he has no information on her other than she is a journalist. But according to Peter, she could hold her own when they went diving and she knows martial arts. So if needed MJ could take people down.

MJ, Peter and Tony were going to sneak into the Auction house. They left their hotel early, so by the time it was night, MJ could sneak into the vault and escape out quickly as well. While MJ was going to sneak in, Tony was going to take down one of the guards and take his place. Meanwhile Peter enters the Auction house through a window left open by Ned, so he can get as close to the power room as possible without raising any suspicion.

“Parker, what are the chances Ned will betray us?” MJ asks him while the three of them were making their way to the rendezvous. “I mean he is friends with head of security”

“He won’t. Trust me.”

“Yeah, but still. I don’t wanna risk my career because someone you trust betrayed us”

“Like I said, Ned would do everything he can to cover us without raising suspicion”

“Ok, you better not be wrong”

After a few more minutes of hiking, the trio reached the rendezvous point.

“Ok, MJ you will keep heading east where you will soon see the window -” Peter starts explaining

“Dude I know, we went over it at least 5 times yesterday. I’ll find the window to the kitchen, and once I’m in the first underground floor, I’ll inform you through the earpiece and you can get ready to hit the power once I have the keycard and password”

“Ok” Peter says as he breathes out in a sigh of relief “Tony, let’s keep going so we can get ready for her”

“Lead the way Pete. Oh and good luck MJ, we’ll see you after this”

Ned knew how dangerous this heist was. Of course it was dangerous not just for him, but for Peter, Tony and MJ as well. From the conversation he heard, while the others were making their way to the rendezvous point, he knew there was nothing to worry about. Tony came up with the plan, and he is ex military as well as a scientist. The plan was pretty foolproof. And Peter is the one leading everyone through the plan. Even though Peter used to be a shy highschooler and a person in general, if Peter had to lead a team, he could do it efficiently and like a true leader. MJ was the one Ned was worried about, he has no information on her other than she is a journalist. But according to Peter, she could hold her own when they went diving and she knows martial arts. So if needed MJ could take people down.

It still wasn’t enough to make his worries go away, but he trusted Peter. All Ned had to do now is keep an eye out till the power goes and wait till the back up kicks in, stay for an hour and leave.

“Ned Leeds?” a voice called out

Ned turns around to see Flash Thompson in a suit with a drink in his hands “Flash?”

“Holy crap, how are you?” Flash exclaims. “It’s been so long since I last saw you”

“Yeah, it’s been a few crazy years”

“So what brings you here? Is it Peter? Last I heard he found a lost city. What was it called? El Dorado?”

“Yeah, and no Peter is not the reason I’m here. I’m friends with the owner of the place and I occasionally come here to relax and be social”

“Really, you know Mr.Osborn? That’s great. You known what I think it’s time I introduced you to my partner”

“Partner?”

“Yes, partner” a new voice with an accent said.  
When Ned turned around he saw a woman, in her early twenties, has silver hair and with blue eyes. She looked like she had been forced to come with Flash for this highly posh function, as her whole facial expression could be read as ‘I’ll murder you if you annoy me, even if it is slightly’. “Silver Sablinova. A pleasure to meet you at last.” Ned greets her

“Ned Leeds, I’ve heard great things about you and your partner”

“My partner?”

“Yes, I thought you were friends with Peter Parker and in fact even worked with him?”

“Ah I see. Yes he is my friend, and he did come for my help to find El Dorado. But he has moved on to other things now. I think he is really into teaching chemistry to kids”

“That’s really good for him. I knew he always liked those nerdy things and having one small adventure would probably tire him out” Flash says to them.

“Yeah, maybe. But tell me what’s the occasion for both of you to partner up?”

“Well, you see I will answer that question if you answer mine”

Ned was a bit confused by that statement, but he decided to play along. “Ok, ask away”

“What are you really doing here?”

“Excuse me?” Ned asks taken aback by the question

“I know you are lying to me about why you are here” Flash says, raising his voice causing everyone’s eyes to lay upon them. “You better tell me the truth or it won’t matter -”

“Flash” Silver cuts him off “People are looking”

“Ok.” Flash replies “I’ll talk to you later Ned. Enjoy the evening”

Ned lets out a sigh in relief. But starts worrying again considering Flash wanted something out of him and got the answer, from the way he was talking to him. Ned decides to contact the trio to let them know of the conversation that just happened, when Ned saw something on stage next to the auctioneer. It was the Game Piece from Queen Anne’s Revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna do the crazy thing, but decided it would not work due to the ending I have in mind. I'll see if there is a way I can add it into the story, but if I can't I'll be using a smaller version of the crazy thing.


	5. Chapter 5: The New Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Cut the power, MJ” Ned says. Then all of a sudden the power went out, and a second later a ‘thwip’ was heard. A few seconds of darkness later, the spot light comes on, but the Game Piece was missing. This caused Flash to call the security and Silver to move away from the door, giving Ned the perfect chance to escape without anyone noticing.

“MJ, I need you to turn back” Ned says, sounding a little overwhelmed.

“Why? What happened?”

“The Game Piece is no longer in the Vault. They are auctioning for it right now”.

“WHAT? Why?”

“I don’t know why. Yet. All I know is there is no point in you going to the Vault.”

“Where is Peter and Tony? Shouldn’t they be able to hear us?”

“Yeah, but I think they are going through an area with bad range. So-”

“Hello?” Peter asks a bit confused

“Peter can you hear us?” Ned questioning Peter.

“Yeah” static “guys keep” static “but it’s” static

“Peter? Tony?”

“Hold on” Peter replies after a minute or two of silence as if he is pushing something. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“We have to change our plans”

“Why” Tony asks “I thought we looked into every detail closely”

“We did, except now, one guest paid to change one thing. That one thing is the Game Piece for Queen Anne’s Revenge”

“What? That’s not possible. You aren’t allowed to change the lot order like that”

“You can if you know Mr.Osborn personally”

“Wait who was the guest who changed the lot order”

“Eugene Thompson”

“What? What was he doing there?” Peter asks surprised

“I think he is going for the same job as you, but also uses his fame and money to get there. And he also partnered up with Silver Sablinova”

“The mercenary?” asks MJ “Isn’t she known for taking down the Sinister Syndicate?”

“Yeah, the group of criminals. Who managed to almost beat her, if it weren’t for The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen*”

“Oh” MJ replies “I knew he was a good guy and Fisk was just lying”

“Can we talk about them later?” Peter interrupts “We need to get our hands on the Game Piece any way possible”

“Wait Pete” Tony pipes up “You have your web shooter with you right?”

“Yeah, I thought we could take people down quietly”

“Good, now let’s stick to the original plan but, MJ take the power room, whereas Peter will wait for the power to go out and he will grab the Game Piece from far away and then we’ll escape like we originally planned”

“Good idea, I just have to find a spot that’s far enough I can shoot the webs quietly, but close enough to actually hit the Game Piece”

“There is a window around 50 feet away from the auctioneer” Ned responds

“That is good, just keep the window open, and I’ll stay there until the power goes out giving me a few seconds before the spot light is switched on to grab the Game Piece and escape”

“Ok, everyone lets do this” Tony says

Ned tries to stop panicking again. Keyword being tries, he should have known someone would throw a wrench into the plan. All he can do now is to get something to drink, open the window for Peter and wait for him over there.

Ned goes to the bartender and orders a Scotch and soda. While he waits he notices Flash coming towards him.

“Leeds, gotta say I really like what you’ve chosen to drink.”

“Yeah, like I said I came here for a relaxing”

“Good, good. I gotta ask you, do you happen to have Peter’s number?”

“Yeah, I do. May I ask why?”

“It’s just that, the Game Piece there is linked to Blackbeard. Surely you have heard of him?”

“Yes, I have. The scariest pirate who ever lived”

“Exactly. And he has his treasure hidden somewhere. See I wanted to find that treasure. And fair enough I can employ some other treasure hunter, but they may betray me. That’s the thing about Peter, he won’t betray the people he’s with. It’s something I’ve come to admire after my teen years”

“So you want his help in narrowing down where the treasure is?” Ned asks still confused

“No. I want him to find it”

“Sure, I can give you his number. But just be careful, I don’t know if he has changed it or not”

“Yeah, it’s fine if he has. I know how to find you. Enjoy your drink”

Ned gulps, then takes the drink towards the window, opening it and slowly drinking while looking out into the thick jungle. Ned feels someone on his right hand side, and when he turns he comes face to face with Peter.

“Dude” Peter starts off “You look like you’ve seen a ghost”

“Flash wants your help in finding the treasure. He has your number, lose the phone as soon as you can”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t even bought it with me”

“Ok” Ned breathes a sigh of relief “Still just lose the phone when you get back. Run into any trouble before getting here?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle”

“Ok, good”

After around 10 minutes where both of them caught up with each other, MJ calls them through the earpiece.

“Peter, I’m ready to cut the power. Just give me the word”

“Ok, I’m ready, just wait for Ned to get into position and when he tells you to cut it, cut the power. Also did you run into any trouble?”

“Yeah, but nothing I couldn’t handle you know”

Ned moves towards the other end of the room, still not sure why Peter and MJ were both lying about the trouble they faced while going to their respective destinations.But Silver was standing near the door, blocking the exit.

“Cut the power, MJ” Ned says. Then all of a sudden the power went out, and a second later a ‘thwip’ was heard. A few seconds of darkness later, the spot light comes on, but the Game Piece was missing. This caused Flash to call the security and Silver to move away from the door, giving Ned the perfect chance to escape without anyone noticing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter from Ned's perspective. Next one will be from MJ's perspective, I am curious to see how I can make that flow with no issues into the ending of this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6: The Power Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what felt like hours for MJ, due to the stress of sneaking around on a roof. She reached the second highest window. She could hear some voices coming from inside the room, so she waits near the window before climbing any further. This would also give her a small break before she went on to cause the blackout, meaning she is going to have to move as fast and quietly as possible to escape.

MJ started to back track so she could find her way to the power room.

“MJ” came Peter’s voice through the earpiece “So to get to the power room, just get to the other side of the compound, and it’s the highest window you can see”

“Ok” MJ responds “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Yeah, you might run into some trouble. So just keep an eye out”

“Sure, yeah I can do that”

She starts to make her way through the jungle and very soon she comes up to the place where they split around half an hour ago. MJ kept heading west, but before she could move forward, there was an obstacle in her path forward. There was a big gap from the edge of the jungle to the wall of the auction house. She looks down and sees a broken log all the way at the bottom.

‘Crap, how am I gonna move past this?’ She thinks to herself. She looks around the wall and finds that underneath the wall around 5 feet below is a small ledge.

‘Ok, there is a ledge. I could run and jump and hope I can hold on to the ledge and then climb up’

MJ then takes a few steps back, thinking and rethinking of this idea. Trying to find another way, but realising there aren’t any other. She then takes a few deep breaths and jumps. And she catches on to the ledge, but ends up spraining her wrist which causes her to whimper. This caused her to nearly lose her grip and fall. Thankfully she could regain her grip and balance.

‘Crap. This is gonna hurt if I need to get over the wall.’

She slowly moves her legs so that she can get a good grip to stand on the ledge. Slowly but surely she was able to do exactly that. By the time she was done standing on the ledge the sun had gone down. ‘Well this should make the sneaking easier for me’ she muses to herself. Then MJ did a small jump that allowed her to hold on to the top of the wall, and pull herself up and over it.

‘Ok, the easy part’s done. Now all I have to do is avoid trouble and get to the top. Sticking to the roof would probably be easier’

MJ then looked for a place to start climbing and she saw a garbage bin, but before she could look around she heard a noise.

‘Oh no’

“So what do you think of Mr.Osborn?” came a voice with a unique accent

‘Symkarian’ MJ realises

“Well he seems to be enjoying retirement so far.” answers to other guard

“Good, the last thing we need is the man getting angry over some small thing. Can you believe it last week, the power went out and he went insane.”

“Really? What happened?”

“The fuse switch tripped. Apparently the thing keeps tripping without something holding it in place. Now you would think a billionaire would buy another switch and replace the old one, but for some reason he hasn’t done it yet”

“Huh, weird”

“Yeah, I thought that too” the other guard replies before both of them leave the same way they came.

That was a close one for MJ, so she decides to climb to the roof using the garbage bin she spotted earlier. From there all she had to do was stick to the roof, and move slowly so the roof tiles don’t make too much noise attracting unnecessary attention.

After what felt like hours for MJ, due to the stress of sneaking around on a roof. She reached the second highest window. She could hear some voices coming from inside the room, so she waits near the window before climbing any further. This would also give her a small break before she went on to cause the blackout, meaning she is going to have to move as fast and quietly as possible to escape.

“But Mr.Osborn, let me explain- “

“No need Ms.Sablinova. I know you have partnered up with Mr.Thompson. I have no interest in this legend of Blackbeard’s lost treasure.” Norman said sounding both impatient and patient at the same time.

“It’s not just about the lost treasure. It’s who is going after it as well.” Silver tries to explain

“Well, enlighten me then. This better be good”

“Peter Parker”

“Peter Parker? The Peter Parker whom your partner bullied? I know he supposedly “found” El Dorado, but please don’t tell me you believe that story. It takes courage and willingness to kill to do treasure hunting, and he has neither”

This angered MJ, because she has seen he is courageous and people don’t need to kill each other or anything for that matter to find a treasure. And Peter Parker proved both of those when they went diving.

“But it is true. My men have seen someone who matches the description of Peter Parker in this venue”

“Please it’s not possible. If he was here I would have seen him, I have my men keeping an eye out and cameras everywhere as well. And since you can’t give any reliable information, I suggest you get out of my office, find your partner and tell these fairy tales to him”

Silver looked like she wanted to argue, but she just turned around and left the room. Norman takes a deep breath before picking up his phone typing in a number and saying “Keep yourself on high alert, we might have uninvited guests. Don’t let Parker and his friends into the auction room and if they are already there don’t let them out” and then slamming the phone down he exits the room.

MJ takes a few deep breaths before continuing on her final leg of the first part of the plan. She reaches the top without too much difficulty, and then struggles a bit to open the window due to her sprained wrist, but she manages to do it. 

“Peter, I’m ready to cut the power. Just give me the word”

“Ok, I’m ready, just wait for Ned to get into position and when he tells you to cut it, cut the power. Also did you run into any trouble?” he asks

“Yeah, but nothing I couldn’t handle you know” she replies while keeping her hand on the support of the fuse switch.

“Cut the power, MJ” Ned responds, and she pulls out the support causing a blackout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was harder to write, I wanted to write more tense situaitons but it didn't fit the plot and I didn't want to sacrifice the plot for some tension that may not even have been good. Also if there is anything you want me to do more, just ask I'll do my best to do more of that said thing.


	7. Chapter 7: The Game Piece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This gave Peter a new perspective on things, as Flash is trying to get someone (possibly him) to help find the Lost Treasure. But for now he put this in the back of his mind, and went straight to the auction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't update it this weekend because I decided I could use weekends for breaks (as I don't want to over exert myself).

Peter and Tony kept heading towards their original destination. Soon they reached a cliff and on the other side was the wall for them to cross.

“Pete, we gotta look around and see if we can find something to use to cross the bridge”

“Ok” Peter responds and he starts to look around and notices the wall has a ledge. “Hey, I see a ledge we can use to climb”

“Kid, I ain’t young you know that right? Also I am likely to hurt my hand if run and try to catch the ledge”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s keep looking for another way”  
After a few minutes of searching, Tony calls Peter over to him. When Peter gets to him, Tony points out a log that looks long enough to reach the other side.

“We could try and move this so we can cross to the other side”

“Yeah, but are you sure you can lift this?” Peter jokes

“Hey I’m not that old”

Peter and Tony both lift the log and take it to the cliff, from there both were really careful placing the log, so it didn’t fall. And when they were making their way across when suddenly the log creaks.

“Crap! Tony, run!” Peter exclaims.

Both of them sprinted across the log when it suddenly broke. Tony was already at the wall, so he was safe. But Peter was not that close, so he did the next best thing and jumped to hold on to the ledge.

“Peter! Are you okay?” Tony asks

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just hanging around” He jokes

“Now's not the time for jokes Peter” Tony replies “How are you gonna get back up?”

“Well, just give me your hand. You can pull me up”

“You sure that’s not gonna bring me down as well?” Tony asks as he is pulling Peter up

“Yeah, weren’t you the one that said you weren’t that weak?” Peter sasses back when he is back on the ground.

“I said I’m not that old”

“You meant you weren’t that weak, it’s the subtext Tony”

Peter and Tony climb up to the roof, using a garbage bin they moved. This allowed them to get a birds eye view of the entire auction house.

“Ok, you go and take care of the guards, I’ll find my way into the Auction house”

“Just be careful kid”

“When am I not?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“No, not really”

With Tony going towards the guard room, Peter kept heading towards the Auction house. While on his way there, Peter came across a room that looked like an office. When he entered the office through the window, he realised the room he was in was not any ordinary office. It was where Osborn would have done business deals with other people.

“Mr.Osborn, let me tell you hiring him is a good choice.” came a voice Peter recognised

“And why would I want to hire a treasure hunter like him?”

“Because he knows about Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure”

And then Norman starts laughing in a way that came off as creepy and sadistic, after a few more moments of laughter, Norman starts off “So you think, this Lost Treasure is real? Mr.Thompson, I never knew you were the type of person to make these types of jokes. Let me tell you one thing, there is nowhere you can start with this treasure hunt idea as people before you haven’t been able to find it. And what makes you think you can find it with the help of others? As far as I know, you just want the fame which you already have. Your parents were rich and famous. All you have to do is take care of the money they left behind, and since that responsibility is on me, I am telling you to go and live your life like any other rich person”

Flash seems to be annoyed at the very least, but he just said his regards and left. Norman then leaves to go back to his room.

This gave Peter a new perspective on things, as Flash is trying to get someone (possibly him) to help find the Lost Treasure. But for now he put this in the back of his mind, and went straight to the auction.

He notices Ned next to a window, he goes up to him.

“Dude” Peter starts off “You look like you’ve seen a ghost”

“Flash wants your help in finding the treasure. He has your number, lose the phone as soon as you can”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t even bought it with me”, that makes sense after the conversation he heard with Flash and Norman

“Ok” Ned breathes a sigh of relief “Still just lose the phone when you get back. Run into any trouble before getting here?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle”

“Ok, good”

After around 10 minutes where both of them caught up with each other, MJ calls them through the earpiece.

“Peter, I’m ready to cut the power. Just give me the word”

“Ok, I’m ready, just wait for Ned to get into position and when he tells you to cut it, cut the power. Also did you run into any trouble?”

“Yeah, but nothing I couldn’t handle you know”

And when Ned gives MJ the head’s up, the Power goes out. And the moment the power goes out, he shoots his web and zips the Game Piece across the room towards him. As the Game Piece hits his palm, Peter just leans out the window, and down onto another window ledge. He moves sideways and sees an open window which he enters. Just as he enters the Power comes back on.

“Pete” came Tony’s voice “Tell me you’ve got the Game Piece”

“Yep, I got out of there without any trouble.”

“Ok, but just FYI, they are searching for you. Some guards claim they saw you.”

“Don’t worry about me just stick to the exit plan”

Just as Peter said that sentence, the door to the room opened.


	8. Chapter 8: The Escape (Peter's Perspective)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah, she is the journalist covering us as we are trying to find this treasure. She is very reliable and asks questions when and how things work to get an understanding.” Peter replies, sounding very impressed by her.

When the door opened, a very familiar face came through. Though he looked like he had been running away from someone. And the moment he saw Peter, his face lighted up and looked a little relieved.

“Peter, oh thank God” he says “I heard, you might be in this auction house, but didn’t think it was true”

“Harley?” Peter asks, sounding a little surprised.

“Yeah, it’s me. Why are you surprised?”

“Because you’re here?”

“Well, it’s a long story I’ll fill you in later. Right now we’ve gotta get out of here, cause Sable and her men are after you.”

“Ok, I have a plan, just stick with me.”  
Peter then uses his earpiece to contact Tony, “Tony, you won’t believe whom I bumped into here”

“Who did you bump into? Also be careful, they are searching for you and another guy who escaped during the blackout”

“Well I think the other guy who escaped would be the person I bumped into, Harley Keener”

“Wait, really?” Tony asks astonished “That explains why Sable said the ‘other guy’ is working for you”

“Yeah he has a story for us apparently”

“Yes, I do. Also tell Tony I said hi”

“He says hi by the way”

“I’ll give him my greetings once you guys get to safety”

“Ok, both of us are gonna stick to the plan, just inform others of our guest”

“Will do, stay safe both of you”

Peter and Harley make their way out of the room into another terrace, where they climb onto the roof. As they are making their way across, they start hearing gunshot fires coming from the direction they were heading in. Peter and Harley stop before looking at each other and having a silent conversation to come to a conclusion just as they were about to move Peter hears MJs voice through the earpiece.

“Peter, I am pinned down at the North entrance” her voice echoes through Peters’ head.

“Ok, we are getting there soon.” Peter says, increasing his speed towards the destination and he tells Harley “We gotta go fast.”

“Why?” Harley asks before adding in “Is one of your crew in trouble? Is that the reason we can hear gunshots being fired?”

“Yeah, she is the journalist covering us as we are trying to find this treasure. She is very reliable and asks questions when and how things work to get an understanding.” Peter replies, sounding very impressed by her.

“Ok” Harley responds, stretching out the ‘o’ sound, which made Peter wonder why he used a different tone.

“Why did you say it like that?”

“Say it like what?”

“Stretching out the ok. Why did you say it like that?”

“Because you seem to have a crush on her.” He replies simply “And before you try to argue back, you don’t have to. You are impressed by her, not the same as Liz but kinda similar. Not to mention I didn’t ask about her reliability but you told it to me anyway. To anyone else it would have been quite a leap of logic to say that, but I’ve known you as long as Ned has so you can’t hide anything like a crush from me.”

“Ok, yeah I have a crush on her. It’s not a big deal.” He responds and voices in his other concern “Please don’t tell her that, I value to the platonic relationship we have right now”

“Ok, I won’t but you better tell her by the end of this mess”

“Deal”

After a few more moments of running across the roof, they reach the North Entrance. And Harley spots MJ pinned to the opposite side of the gate they were supposed to go to.

“Ok, here’s the thing. There’s way too many guards for the three of us to take care. Just cover my back and I’ll go to her and swing our way out of here and lose them in the forest.” Peter instructs Harley. “Just cover both of us until we are outside the gate and meet us in the forest. And while you are in the forest, just keep heading towards the North and you should reach a tree with a hollow trunk, if you don’t meet me in the docks, at around 4 in the morning we are planning to leave as early as possible. Also to find the tree use the -”

“North star to guide me” Harley interrupts “I know basic astronomy Pete, just go and get both of you out of here”

Peter then swings down tackling two people and quipping which causes the rest of them to look at him and start shooting at him. At that point Harley takes his gun out and shoots the guards throwing them even further into confusion as they just got surprised twice. Peter then swings towards MJ, while taking care of some guards by shooting his webs at their legs so they fall over.

“Hey” MJ voices relieved Peter is there right on time “So much for a quiet escape right?”

“Yeah, I still prefer the quiet way out” Peter replies “Ok, here is the thing. Hold on to me and I’m gonna swing us out of here. It’s probably gonna be scary but it’s gonna be quick and we can lose them more easily”

“Ok” MJ replies while holding on to Peter, “Is this ok?”

“Yep” Peter answers while his face got redder, “Hold on”

And two seconds after that Peter swings to the top while MJ shrieks due to the sudden movement before realising she shrieked. Peter swings them over the large gate and through the forest, while the guards try to catch up but fail as they had to open the gate and follow them through the forest with their vehicles. This also gave Harley a chance to escape and meet them in the forest at the tree with hollow trunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna have both Peter and MJs perspective but the way I wrote the chapter didn't allow me to write MJs' perspective. I will try to compensate for that in a future chapter, I have one chapter idea where I could do it. But let me reach that point before I think how to write that chapter.


	9. Chapter 9: Finding The Next Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley met Peter and MJ met at the rendezvous, from there, after a quick introduction the trio went to the docks to meet up with Tony and Ned. While waiting for the duo, Peter started examining the Game Piece to get some clue on where to go. Peter looks at the dice (which is the game piece) and notices that it has 2 layers of wood at certain parts. And just as he was about to point this out, Tony enters the ship and quickly went to the Captain's cabin to prepare for departure. When Peter was just about to ask where Ned was, Tony comes out to tell him the news.

Harley met Peter and MJ met at the rendezvous, from there, after a quick introduction the trio went to the docks to meet up with Tony and Ned. While waiting for the duo, Peter started examining the Game Piece to get some clue on where to go. Peter looks at the dice (which is the game piece) and notices that it has 2 layers of wood at certain parts. And just as he was about to point this out, Tony enters the ship and quickly went to the Captain's cabin to prepare for departure. When Peter was just about to ask where Ned was, Tony comes out to tell him the news.

"Pete, Ned says he is going to stay back for a bit" Tony explains Ned's disappearance "He didn't want Sable to question him, so he decided to stay back and try and find the thief who stole the artifact."

"Ok, that makes sense" Peter replies "As long as it gets both of us out of trouble, I'm fine with that."

"Ok, so what next?" MJ inquires

"Well, I have the Game Piece here," Peter says showing the crew the Game Piece he had stolen from the Auction. "And the reason we needed this was, Blackbeard's crew would have played with a similar dice. But this is not the crews, this belonged to Blackbeard himself." Peter turns the dice to show the initials E.T.

"E.T, Edward Teach. The real name of Blackbeard." MJ mentions.

"Yeah, and this woodwork is remarkable. I mean even after centuries it seems to have minimal damage." Harley pipes up. "And now we have to just find the wood that could have minimal damage after centuries of being underwater"

"Yeah, except every type of wood decays underwater and wouldn't look like this" MJ counters.

"Yeah except, Blackbeard lived in Bristol in the U.K. This could be a Sweet Chestnut tree's part, although I am pushing my luck with the guess" Harley replies.

"Yeah, you are right! He would have used Sweet Chestnut because the tree responds very well to coppicing. Which means it is an excellent material to use as a fence or a post. And if you were to coat something over the wood it would make it impervious." Peter exclaims. "This means that he had to get a dice maker to coat the original wood with Teak wood, which is resistant to damage you get a Game Piece which is exactly like the one we have right now."

"But that raises the question where could he have gone to get the extra effort getting Teak" Tony vocalizes. "I mean he only worked around the West Indies, and Eastern America."

This put Peter into deep thought as he was trying to work out the details of Blackbeard's life. When going through all the possible locations of Teak existing, only one came to mind. And he was sure that Blackbeard wouldn't have gone there. After a couple of moments of arguing with himself, he pipes up.

"Well I know one place where Teak is found, but I'm pretty sure Blackbeard never went there."

"Yeah, the place you are thinking of couldn't be the right place. It's too obvious he didn't go there" Harley responds.

"How do you know what place he is thinking?" MJ asks out of genuine curiosity.

"I've known Peter long enough to know his mind, and I took a special interest in engineering, specifically engineering which uses wood. So I have had to research a lot of trees."

"Oh okay." MJ responds "But what place is he thinking off?"

"India"

"Yeah, Blackbeard never went there Peter." MJ sasses

"You're right, I know that" And Peter stays silent for another few moments before suddenly going to his room and bringing back a very large book. He starts to look through the contents of the book and finds what he needs, turns to that specific page and shows it to the rest. "Blackbeard may not have gone there but George Forrester did."

"Peter, who is George Forrester?" Harley asks

"He is a merchant who wrote a book about British India. The thing is when I made this book, I looked up the lives of all the merchants at that time. But this one guy just stood out to me. He has written a book about when he went through Russia, but when I looked into it I couldn't find anyone with that name trading or doing anything in Russia. Now the important thing is he is also British, same as Blackbeard. And pirates are notorious for using different names but one thing they can't change: where they are from."

"Peter, first of all, why do you have a book like this? And second of all, why would he go through all this trouble?" MJ asks

"Well to answer your first question, I've always found British India an interesting time. Especially for merchants and other related jobs like a ship captain. So I made a collection of those jobs and put them into a book. I carry it just in case I have to use it to find some information, so you know it is not any Deus ex machina or something." Peter jokingly replies. "And to answer your second question, he would have to hide from authorities, what better way to hide than in plain sight?"

"Ok. So you think going to India is the best option we have" Harley skeptically asks.

"Yeah, unfortunately." Peter voices back. "I think it would be specifically near the Western Ghats. It's the best place to hide a base or an entire civilization."

"Ok, then" Tony begins "To the Western Ghats it is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this the next chapter setting is inspired by Uncharted 5. And I hope this chapter isn't too bad.


	10. Chapter 10: The Western Ghats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter took out his binoculars and started looking around for some structure in the middle of the jungle. A couple of moments later Peter saw something that surprised him, Flash and Sable were in the jungle too.

After a few days of traveling, the crew finally reached the Western Ghats. It was a beautiful place with a lot of greenery and was very humid.

"So this is the famous Western Ghats," Harley said "I have to say I'm impressed. I saw some pictures and I didn't think it will live up to the expectations."

"Harley, focus." came Peter's voice "We are here to look for the tree and see if there is any evidence of pirate activity".

"What kind of pirate activity are we talking here? Like a big ship in the middle of the jungle?"

"What?! No that's insane, I mean anything like a small colony. What Libertalia would have been like."

"Libertalia?" MJ asks.

"Yeah, the famous pirate colony which Henry Avery supposedly founded with other pirates." Tony responds.

"It's been unofficially accepted by treasure hunters, that Libertalia didn't exist but who knows." Peter says.

After what was felt like walking for days for everyone, they finally reached a waterfall. From there Peter announced they should take a break and see which way to go next. Peter then went to the waterfall and looked around to see if he could find anything. MJ joins him a few minutes later.

"What are the chances you are wrong?" she queried.

"Well so far we haven't had luck, so it's highly likely we won't find anything for days." Peter answers.

"How do you know which way to go?"

"I don't, that's why we came this way. I needed to see the jungle from an elevated position."

"Oh okay, that makes sense."

"Yeah I was hoping there was something that I could spot from up here, but so for it's nothing."

"Maybe it's on the other side."

"I thought of that possibility. Hopefully we won't have to split up."

Peter took out his binoculars and started looking around for some structure in the middle of the jungle. A couple of moments later Peter saw something that surprised him, Flash and Sable were in the jungle too.

"Tony! Come look at this!" Peter exclaims.

"What is it? Did you find anything?"

"Kinda yeah, we are gonna have trouble up ahead."

Peter gave Tony the binoculars and pointed it in the direction of Flash and Sable. "Shit. You are right."

"What do you think? If they are there we must be near something." Harley says.

"Or we could be away from all the action." Peter says.

"Yeah, they could just be sending Sable mercenaries to the location while staying close enough if the mercs were to find something they could rush in" MJ responds.

"Yep. So Tony, what do you think? There are 4 of us here, we could split up and do a search which will cover more area." Harley voices his opinion.

"You are right, Pete and MJ will go together away from Flash and Sable, while Harley and I will go towards them."

"Ok, MJ and I will keep climbing to the top of this gigantic hill. Just be careful and avoid getting into fights, we don't want them to know we are here."

"Got it Captain obvious" Harley sasses "We will do our best to get into trouble."

Which earned an eye roll from Peter, and within the next five minutes, Harley and Tony headed downhill. Whereas Peter and MJ started going higher. Soon the duo reached high enough where they could see both sides of the hill.

"Quite the view eh? I swear I think I can see my home from up here." Peter jokes.

"You live in a jungle?" MJ jokes back.

"Yeah, I've decided that after all this I should just retire and be a monkey."

"Shouldn't be too hard then, since you already know Harley and he is like family to you."

"Haha very funny. I was being half-serious, I think this might be the last treasure hunt I might do." Peter looks at MJ while answering.

"What? Are you being serious? Why would you stop?" MJ asks surprised by Peter's statement.

"Mostly because when you are a treasure hunter, it's hard to live a normal life as yours could end pretty much any day." Peter states and continues when he looks at MJ realizing she's waiting for him to continue. "And if I do die on the job, then I would be leaving my aunt and uncle who made sure I wasn't left to an orphanage after my parents died. I mean it's probably gonna be hard for me to get a job with no qualifications, but I can try living honestly like you or my uncle."

"Peter, you are an amazing treasure hunter. Yeah, you could die pretty much any day, but that's the case if you aren't a treasure hunter either. Yeah sure the chances of you dying are higher in this because of mercenaries and whatnot but if the job doesn't have a risk then it's not that much fun." She replies seriously. "But if you want to retire from this I will support you."

"Thanks." Peter replies sheepishly.

"Don't mention it" MJ replies feeling her cheeks getting warmer by the second.

"Well, here we are." Peter exclaims taking out his binoculars and looking around the jungle. "Aha, there it is."

"You found a colony?" MJ inquired.

"No, but I did find some sort of structure. And just by looking at it, it seems to be quite old. Around 500 years old."

"You think this is the place then?"

"It could lead to the colony or someplace else. We'll have to wait and see."

"Ok, before we go down do you think we should tell the others we might have found something?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Peter says while taking out his radio. "Harley, Tony we found a structure that could potentially lead to the colony."

"That's great." Harley responds. " We are still making our way towards Flash and Sable, so just as a heads up if we don't take the call it's either we are hiding from them or we have been captured."

"Stop joking about that Harley" Peter states. "Ok, well keep in touch, and if it goes south just run and give us a call if we haven't found anything by then we'll come."

"Ok." Tony responds. "See you soon kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The joke about the ship in the middle of the jungle is obviously an Uncharted 1 reference. Which reminds me if you guys have a PS4 the Nathan Drake collection is free till May 5th.


	11. Chapter 11: Flash and Sable (Harley and Tony's perspective)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Harley look at each other realizing Flash and Sable don't like each other, but the circumstances forced them to work together. Both of them leave the base, and once they were far enough Tony contacted Peter.

Harley and Tony moved towards the ruins where Peter discovered Flash and Sable. Now, this could go a few ways for them. First, the most unlikely but preferred scenario, they sneak past the Sable mercs with no problem. Second, they get spotted but still managed to escape with no big injuries. Or the worst-case scenario, both of them get injured and won't make it through.

"Do you think it was a good idea to send Pete and MJ together?" Harley asks.

"Yeah, they have good chemistry. And if they find something, both of them will work together to find the next clue."

"Well let's hope they are going in the right direction and not us, I don't want us to be dealing with Flash and Sable."

Harley and Tony keep moving through the jungle, soon reaching the first ruins where they initially spotted Flash. The duo hid behind a massive boulder that had fallen to the ground. Tony looked at Harley and asked to follow him quietly. They snuck around the ruins putting the unfortunate mercs in their way to sleep.

Soon they reached the backside of the ruins where Sable had set up her base camp. Tony and Harley went to the side of the base to keep moving forward when they overheard a conversation between Flash and Sable.

"Sable, your men aren't doing anything useful at the site, they are contaminating the surroundings." Flash aggressively told her.

"My men are going to the fastest method of getting in. If I remember it right, you told them to go to the fastest method."

"That doesn't mean you blow the damn place up using explosives. They need to use common sense as well."

"Well, what's done is done. Now all we need is to go in and find the treasure."

"I hope you don't think it'll be that easy. There are going to be puzzles to solve. And the treasure won't be here, it would have been too easy for him to just leave it here."

"So we have to go through another set of puzzles and not achieve anything."

"Well, not really. I have a plan that I need to hold on to for some time." Flash says cockily before exiting the tent.

Tony and Harley look at each other realizing Flash and Sable don't like each other, but the circumstances forced them to work together. Both of them leave the base, and once they were far enough Tony contacted Peter.

"Pete, I think we might be where the next clue is at."

"Really? Ok." Peter says trying to hide the fact he was surprised. "I mean there are some Sable guys here blowing up stuff using explosives."

"Wait! Pete stay there then." Tony exclaims. "We overheard Flash and Sable arguing, they said the site had Sable mercs with explosives blowing up everything. You might be in the right place."

"Wait, how does he know where to go? I am still confused with how fast he figured it out."

"Yeah, that's true." Harley agreeing with Peter. "Flash did say he had a secret he needed to hold on to. Unless that has something to do with us."

"Wait. He has my number! He has been tracking me! Damnit! I should have guessed that." Tony heard something being broken through the earpiece. "So, I broke my phone. He shouldn't be able to track me anymore."

"Well, just let us know how it goes okay? Also, you might have to solve some puzzles."

"Ok, thanks for the heads up. See you guys later."

Tony and Harley snuck around the ruins looking for a way in, just in case they were in the right spot. But after searching they couldn't find anything. That's when they saw Flash holding a phone to his ear answering it angrily.

"NO! WHAT YOU DON'T GET IS THAT PARKER WAS BEHIND THE ROBBERY LIKE WE TRIED TO TELL YOU. BUT NO, YOU HAD TO TRY AND PUT YOUR EGO IN FRONT OF FACTS. LISTEN, THE ONLY WAY YOU GET BACK WHAT YOU WANT IS TO PUT A CONTRACT OUT. I DON'T CARE, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE WHO WILL TAKE THE JOB. IN FACT, I CAN RECOMMEND A FEW PEOPLE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. TRY OTTO OCTAVIUS. HE IS THE ONLY HITMAN TO TAKE DOWN PARKER AND HIS USELESS CREW."

Flash remained silent listening to what the other person was saying. "Oh so now you need my help. Why don't you try it again Norman? You don't win in any of these situations. Just remember I have evidence against you for a lot of crimes and trying to take me out will just confirm your place in prison."

He listens to Norman Osborn again and replies "Ok, we have a deal. But this better get rid of the problem or both of us are going down."

Right then Sable comes and signals Flash to follow, "Listen here Norman, I'm gonna call you back later something else came up and I want to take care of it first."

He follows Sable, while Tony tries to contact Peter. "Hey Pete, I think Flash is coming to your location."

"Yeah, I figured. We found the next clue but one of the mercs might've escaped and informed Sable. We are gonna take the clue and get out of here as fast as we can. See you back at the airport."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember the fact that Ned told Peter about giving his number to Flash. That was a Checkov's gun, or Checkov's phone number I guess.


	12. Chapter 12: The Next Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ and Peter looked in the opposite direction of where Tony and Harley were heading. The duo headed down as fast as they could so that in case they were right about the next clue, they could find it before Sable's mercs. While climbing down, Peter told MJ how El Dorado wasn't a city but a statue of a golden man. This statue was dumped into the depths of the Pacific Ocean so that no one would turn into zombies.

MJ and Peter looked in the opposite direction of where Tony and Harley were heading. The duo headed down as fast as they could so that in case they were right about the next clue, they could find it before Sable's mercs. While climbing down, Peter told MJ how El Dorado wasn't a city but a statue of a golden man. This statue was dumped into the depths of the Pacific Ocean so that no one would turn into zombies.

"Really? zombies?" MJ asked. Still not believing Peter's story, as it had supernatural elements to it.

"Yeah, I'm not kidding. They were the Spanish who originally tried to steal the El Dorado but ended up being a curse." Peter explained.

"You got any proof that El Dorado is a statue?"

"Yeah, Tony took a picture of it. And I also bought some of the treasure with us when we came back." Peter said. "I'll show it to you once we get back."

"Really? Thanks!" MJ replies with a hint of excitement in her voice.

As the two reached down they heard an explosion, immediately ducking for cover. Both of them waited for a few seconds before taking a peek and seeing smoke coming further down.

"What do you think that was?" MJ asks him.

"It could be traps set by the tribes." Peter starts. "But this big of an explosion is only possible with modern technology."

MJ and Peter both slowly move forward and a couple of steps later they hear two people talking.

"Boss wants us to secure the perimeter, didn't tell us why." said one of the guards.

"This better be worth the trouble" replied the second one while coming into their view. "Boss wants us to secure a perimeter where there is no one else but us."

"Shit, Sable guards" Peter quietly whispers. "They are the people who caused the explosion."

"Ok, what should we do?" MJ whispers back.

"Take them down, quietly." He answers. "I'll take the one on the right, and when the other one is surprised, take him down."

MJ nods, and then waits for Peter to make the first move. A moment later he shoots a web at the left guard and leaps at him to knock him down. The moment Peter shot his web, MJ runs towards the other guard and takes him down using martial arts she had learned a long time ago.

"Your technique's a bit rusty." Peter pointed out.

"You try doing this after a long time, I bet your technique would be rusty too" She replies.

"Yeah, fair enough."

They both keep moving forward and soon come upon some ruins that look like it's been exploded. Peter then got a call from Tony, during which he destroyed his phone and explained to MJ he was being tracked by Flash and that's how he and Sable knew about the ruins in the Western Ghats.

"So according to Tony, there is a puzzle that we have to solve to get the next clue," Peter says. "The only problem is getting in and out before Sable sends her entire army of mercenaries after us."

Peter and MJ frantically search for the puzzle, but they couldn't find anything.

"I don't get it are we missing something?" Peter asks rhetorically. "What could be the one thing Edward would do to make this hard?"

"Is there any other thing we could be missing like where the Teak was bought from?" MJ inquires.

"I mean it had to be from somewhere here, it is too risky for Blackbeard to use shops in towns as they would be able to track him down," Peter replies. "Maybe this is the puzzle. Figure out how he got Teak and that would lead us to the next place."

"I mean, isn't that like personal? I mean no one could know where he got it from."

"Yeah, it is true. That's why it would make a good test or even a puzzle. Because like Blackbeard has noted it down, only him and the devil know where the treasure is."

"So, what's the plan then? Where could he have gotten Teak from?"

"Here, that much is obvious but it can't be that easy. So what could be the answer here?"

"He is from England, and no one knows anything about his life before being a pirate, right?"

"Yeah, I don't think he'll hide his treasure in England or at least the clues for it."

"Come on, it is the perfect place."

"Yeah it is, but we have to solve this to confirm your theory," Peter replies. "Ok, if I was a well-known pirate, and had the English authorities breathing down my neck, where would I go and hide?" Just as Peter finished the sentence he saw a ruin with a small inscription written on it. "MJ, I've found the starting piece ."

MJ goes to him and tries to read the inscription. "I can't read what it says."

"I'm gonna paraphrase what it says 'I have left inscriptions on some stones, solving this will give you a clue on where to go next. Solve the puzzle and you will get a country'.So now we have to find the question."

Peter takes a few stones lying around and looks for similar inscriptions and finds two of them. "I've got two stones with the question, but the problem is we are missing one. It could have been blown up by the sable guys, and since they didn't find anything big in this mess, they left."

"What does the inscription say?"

"Starts with 'For Thousands of years, seen only in tales, I use the wind as sail' and ends with 'I am armored but I do not wear it'"

"So it existed only in tales and has armor but doesn't wear it?"

"Yeah. It can also fly cause it is using wind like a sail."

"So something that used to be a mythical creature but now exists?"

"Well yeah, the literal translation doesn't make too much sen- Holy shit!! Of Course"

"What? Do you know where to go?"

"Yeah, well three places. First, is China, why China? Well, silk route so pirates would make money from those ships. Second is Norway. They have dragons in their myth, but this isn't the place according to my gut feeling. The last one is Wales. Their flag has a dragon on it. That is the most obvious place but Wales didn't make their current Flag until 1959, but it is close to where he would have lived."

"Well let's get out of here, and we'll decide later who goes where."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, I'll be honest this one was harder to write due to the half a riddle.


	13. Chapter 13: The Trade Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as they were about to move away from the ruins, Peter heard several Sable mercenaries heading towards them. This prompted him to pull MJ close to him so they were chest to chest and made sure both of them were pinned against the wall of the ruins.

Just as they were about to move away from the ruins, Peter heard several Sable mercenaries heading towards them. This prompted him to pull MJ close to him so they were chest to chest and made sure both of them were pinned against the wall of the ruins.

"Search everywhere, they can't be far." commanded the Head. "Both of them took down two of our boys, without raising alarms. So stay vigilant, and shoot on sight."

"Are you sure we have to shoot them on sight? I mean they did survive with a minor concussion." replied another guard. "Also Flash wanted to have a chat with him."

"Fine, take him down non-lethally, but if he starts taking a lot of us down, shoot him."

Peter then relaxed and moved a bit so he wasn't chest to chest MJ, he apologized with a small blush appearing. He slowly moved towards the spot he had split with Tony and Harley earlier. While moving one of the mercenary spots him and shoots the ground next to him, in turn alerting the others of his position, and making Peter stop advancing towards his destination.

"Come out, now and your friends won't be hurt." said one of the guards.

"Yeah, nice try. How can you be sure that I didn't come alone?" Peter sasses back.

"Well, I think I can convince you with one call to the boss." the guard replied while contacting the base through his earpiece. "He needs the evidence." A moment of silence later the guard says "Ok, send him." The guard looks at Peter and says "Don't try to escape, your friends are being bought here."

A few minutes later a helicopter appears, and inside it was Flash with Tony and Harley. Flash comes down on a rope and when he got to the ground, he gives Peter an evil grin, "Parker! I was wondering when you'll show up. I gotta be honest, I didn't think you would have retired."

"It's nice seeing you too, Flash."

"No need to get all sassy, cause you see I have two people you value a lot." Just as he said this, Tony and Harley appear with blood on their face and both looking like they were tortured. "If you want your friends to live, I need you to give up the next clue and go back home with my people so I can send your friends to you."

"How do I know you won't kill them after I leave?" Peter asked. "And how do I know you won't kill me and then them?"

"I won't do that, you see I am a man of my word, and I will keep my word. I would like to think I have some honor, and keeping my word is how I keep my honor at respectable levels."

"Fine, but you won't get anything out of me other than the clues."

"That's all I need."

With that, Peter leaped when his earpiece fell out. "Don't take it, it will useless for you," Flash says and Peter continued walking towards Flash. When he got next to Flash, Flash gives the signal for the helicopter to move back to base. Before Peter could ask why he answers "We are going to another camp." and he knocked out Peter.

"Search for the journalist, she probably went back to the nearest town."

"Yes, sir." one of the mercenary enthusiastically answers.

Then a few guards took Peter and placed him into the vehicle they came in, which was parked a bit far away from the ruins. MJ took Peter's earpiece with her and realized this treasure hunt could be over. She starts to head back to the town to find a bus to the city and head back to the US.

While on her way back she was met with a lot of challenges like some venomous animals trying to bite her. And nearly falling to death after a mishap while climbing a tree for safety. Needless to say, that accident caused her some problems as she did fall from quite a big height. She spent the night on the tree just to be safe from all the problems that could have cost her, her life.

She wasn't too cold on the tree even the cool breeze hitting her, and making it a lot more cold than it would have been. Another problem she faced was musquitoes, which kept her up the entire night as they kept on trying to bite and suck blood. However, she was in a way thanking the mosquitoes for the sleepless night as she was a bit scared she could have fallen.

When the sun started to rise, she looked around trying to see if she could spot a town from up there. She could see some ruins which weren't useful to her as she was trying to avoid them. That's when it hit her that, she could pinpoint the two ruins and try to make her way back to the town. Now the only problems she had were dehydration and hunger. She couldn't believe she had used up all her water during the night.

She climbed down the tree and when she got down, she could hear some voices. She quickly hid amongst the trees and realized the voices were coming from the earpiece she took, which Peter dropped. When she put it on she couldn't believe her ears.

"Kid, where are you?" came Tony's voice.

"Tony?" MJ asks disbelievingly.

"MJ? What happened to Peter? Is he hurt?" she could hear the panic in Tony's voice.

"No, he went with Flash because Flash got both you and Harley and traded both of your life for the next clue."

"WHAT?! We are fine! He was lying" Tony said with his panic increasing.

"I don't believe this both of us saw you and Harley. And you looked in a bad shape. This must some trick."

"No, it's not. But I know who could pull this off."

"Who? And prove you are actually Tony and you know Peter."

"Ok. Peter saved your life when you went diving to search Queen Anne's Revenge, he is one of the most down to earth people I know, and he cannot leave anyone in danger even if it costs Peter his life."

"Ok, I believe you. But who could pull this off?"

"Quentin Beck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter than usual, let me know if you want longer Chapters or if I should stick to my 1k per chapter rule. I also hope I did that ending right, I've never tried writing like that before so please tell me if I did it right.


	14. Chapter 14: The Breakout Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tried to open his eyes, but it took him some time to adjust to the bright light. After a few more seconds of blinking his eyes adjusted to the environment. One of the guards in the room with him saw that he has woken up, so he left the room and in the next 5 minutes, Flash came into the room.

Peter tried to open his eyes, but it took him some time to adjust to the bright light. After a few more seconds of blinking his eyes adjusted to the environment. One of the guards in the room with him saw that he has woken up, so he left the room and in the next 5 minutes, Flash came into the room.

"Parker, now that you've slept for a few hours I think it's time for you to give me the clue and head back home."

"Ok Flash. You better keep your word. The next place to go is either Wales, China, or Norway. The answer to a puzzle was Dragon. And all these countries have connections to Dragon. Now if I was to bet on one country, it would be Wales, because it's close to England."

"Are you sure about this? And who else knows this?"

"No one except the people in this room. Tony and Harley are being taken care of by you. And the journalist went a different way to search for ruins, so she wasn't with me."

"Ok, I believe you. Now that you have done your part." Flash looked at the two guards who went over to Peter and knocked him out again.

MJ met up with Harley and Tony, who were able to patch her up and give her something to eat. While being patched up MJ told them everything that happened. This led Tony to tell her stories about Beck and conclude that it was Beck who pulled it off.

"I can't believe Beck is working for Flash. I mean Beck is the type of guy to want all the glory for himself." Harley says disbelievingly.

"Maybe he gets something out of this? Like Peter's fame?" Tony adds.

"That makes sense, he is going to take Peter's fame meanwhile Peter would be locked up in a prison, realizing Flash betrayed him."

"Ok, we need to make a plan, but the problem is we don't even know where Peter is." MJ points out.

"That's easy, they haven't left the ruins. But if Peter is in prison he is likely to be heavily guarded. They know how strong he is. So we have to distract them, which allows Peter to escape."

"What do you have in mind?"

Harley explains his idea in detail to both of them. Now, this idea would only work if they take the place of 2 Sable guards. MJ and Tony will go in to locate Peter, break him out. While Harley takes control of one of their vehicles and gets ready for a quick escape.

Tony and MJ locate two guards with helmets and knocks them down to take their uniforms. The only problem was the uniform was too big for Tony, so they had to make another plan, where Tony and Harley wait for MJ and Peter to come out together to escape.

When Peter wakes up he sees Beck and another guard looking at him through the bars of the prison cell. "I hope you are enjoying your stay, so far." Beck adds.

It then clicks to Peter that Beck and Flash both fooled him. "Beck! Long time no see. Kinda surprised to see you here. I thought you died when the zombies pulled you into the hole." 

"That was merely an inconvenience, I managed to escape that easily. But by the time I made it out of the cave system you had already taken the treasure out and dropped it into the ocean. So I realized it was not worth going after it again. And I stalked you for the next few months learning about this Blackbeard's treasure."

"Yeah, and what do you know?"

"More than you. I have managed to get a lot of information from people by imitating you."

That was an eye-opener for Peter, he realized that a lot of people including his remaining family could have been fooled.

"Don't worry, I didn't go to your 'family'. But that was only because Flash told me not too. If he didn't I was going to take advantage and exploit being you. But I only have one thing to say to you: Face it genius you've been played."

MJ is beyond nervous to do this. But she needs to do this as Peter is in trouble, and he would do the same for her. She managed to sneak into the base camp and kept up her cover as a guard by patrolling the area. She also manages to find Peter's stuff, but only takes his web-shooters as those are the only really important things he would need. Soon she spots a young man, who is holding a ridiculous costume. She deduces that to be Beck from Tony's stories.

"Hey, you there. I need you to come with me." Beck points at her and calls out.

MJ walks to Beck a little faster than her patrol walk but not too fast, and when she reached Beck she asked, "Yes, sir?." MJ cringed inwardly at calling him sir.

"Oh good, you have some respect for me." He says. "I need you to come with me and stay with me for some time."

"Ok, sir. Where to?"

"The prison. I have to meet up with a prisoner and exchange a few words."

Beck led MJ straight to Peter, who was still out cold. MJ managed to keep her guard persona up until Beck and Peter had their conversation. And when Beck was about to leave, he told MJ she had to keep an eye on him for the entire day.

"Ah great." Peter sighs. "I've gotta get out of here."

"You wouldn't need to worry about that." MJ replies while taking off the helmet. "Help is already here."

"MJ?" Peter asks disbelievingly. "How do I know you're not Beck trying to mess with me?"

"You saved me from a Shark when we went to look inside Queen Anne's Revenge."

"Ok, that's good for me. How are we going to get out of here?"

"We'll have to wait till night, and once it's night Harley and Tony will come behind the ruins in a vehicle they stole, so we can escape. It's not going to be quiet but we'll have to run for it."


	15. Chapter 15: The Next Destination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They keep driving and eventually they traveled through 2 towns, they decided were too close to Flash and Sable mercs. Eventually, they reached a village where they decided to rent a cheap motel to lay down for a couple of days before heading back to Europe for the treasure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, sorry for the long gap before posting this chapter. Ran into writers block and to overcome that problem I had to make this chapter shorter than usual.

By the time the night arrived, everyone seemed to have forgotten about Peter, which was good as this would allow them to escape. MJ got herself ready with a small pep talk to herself and trying different breathing techniques. And when MJ thought it was dark enough, she opened the door to Peter's cell and gave him his web-shooters.

"Thanks!" Peter said to MJ. "Not just for this, for coming to get me as well."

"Yeah, don't mention it. You would have done the same."

"I mean yeah, but you know if it was anyone else they wouldn't have come back here to save me." Peter says while putting on his web-shooters.

Both of them move quietly through the corridor, trying to avoid confrontation. When they reached the front of the building, Peter looked around before asking "You see anyone?"

MJ replies "Nope, it looks clear. This is too quiet."

"Agreed."

They made their way through the base and reached a room with Peter's stuff on the table. Peter grabbed his stuff and left the room with a wallet that seemed to be full of money.

"This should help us once we get back to town," Peter said while examining the contents of the wallet.

MJ and Peter creep across the base and just as they reach Harley and Tony, Sable mercs attack them. All four of them were being shot at, MJ and Peter quickly get on the truck Harley borrowed from Sable.

"GO! GO! GO!" Peter exclaims, letting Tony know to start driving.

"Kid you gotta shake them off if we have to get out of here alive!"

Peter gets his web-shooters ready to stop the cars and starts to block the windshield of the cars and trucks following them, then he starts to web up the tires. And after a few more uses of webs, he stops everyone from following them.

"Holy shit! That was intense," Harley sighs out.

"Both of you tell me one thing only you both could know."

"Well, you are scared of spiders and when I first met you you were dumpster diving for computer parts," Tony said.

And Harley said, "You were always interested in Chemistry and made the web-shooters after being inspired by the different types of silk a spider uses."

"Ok, ok. That's good, none of you are illusions by Quentin Beck"

"Yeah MJ filled us in on what happened," Tony replied.

They keep driving and eventually they traveled through 2 towns, they decided were too close to Flash and Sable mercs. Eventually, they reached a village where they decided to rent a cheap motel to lay down for a couple of days before heading back to Europe for the treasure.

At night after everyone went to bed, Peter looks up at the night sky and tries to plan their next move before he was interrupted by Harley.

"So what are you thinking?"

"Thinking of planning to find a normal job after this."

Harley snorts at that statement, "Dude what?! Why?"

"Well I seem to be close to dying and I don't wanna leave May and Ben alone. That and I'm still young and there are a lot of things I wanna do before I die."

"Okay, fair enough."

"What about you? You gonna continue on this life or settle down?"

"To be decided," Harley says before sighing and continuing, " Honestly, I wanna see how long I can do this before my body gives up. Plus all the treasure money is good."

Peter chuckles at that and says a good night before going back into his room so he can get some sleep before discussing his plans with the crew the next day.


	16. Chapter 16: On The Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write in a different way and kinda make it work but not make it work at the same time, well I should upload another Chapter soon as I now know the way I want this to go and have gotten over my small writers block.

Peter was up by 7:00 the next day. He hadn't decided who goes where, as they didn't have much time to discuss due to the danger of being followed by Sables' Mercs. He freshened up and went out of the motel room to find Tony. He sees Tony ordering a cup of black coffee in the roadside stall.

"Hey," Peter gets Tonys' attention, "How did you sleep?"

"About as good as you expect considering the day we had. Also, you should still be in bed, resting."

"I would be if it was the first time my life was threatened," Peter jokes but stops as soon as he sees Tonys' face. He sighs and continues "I couldn't sleep that much. Flash finding the treasure that we put so much effort into finding put me off sleeping. Then I remembered he has enough people to go to all the places where the treasure could be. It's a mess."

"Kid, I have seen you work your way out of a place which we all thought was impossible," Tony starts, "Sure you might have died finding El Dorado, but you also did something more than just finding it. You made sure that the cursed treasure never left the island it was on, it would have been a disaster if the treasure left the island since it created 'zombies'." Tony explains to Peter seriously.

"Yeah, but this isn't some zombie we can get rid off. It's a human who can think and solve problems. Sure he may not have got the highest back in high school, but he could still be a force to reckon with."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon, plus there are 4 of us here and 3 places to go we can split up and search the treasure, also Harley and I can ask for some people to help us."

"Yeah, but do you think they have time to help us? I mean The Treasure could be a myth for all we know."

"Of course they'll help us, they like you and me." To which Peter raises one of his eyebrows.

"Last time I checked Steve left you to die in a bunker, you and Pepper are going through a complicated time right now, Rhodey has an actual job, and almost everyone in your old group is labeled as an outlaw."

"Yeah, but I still think I can get help from one or two of them. It's the least they could do for either of us."

Peter reluctantly agrees to Tony's answer, he knows it wouldn't be easy for Tony to see Pepper again after they decided to take a break. But Peter trusts both of them to be able to work through their problems like adults and overcome the issue. The same could be said for the strained friendship of Tony and Steve's due to their past, more specifically their past involving Steve's best friend and Tony's father.

"Ok, kid. You get ready for going to Wales with MJ, I'll take one of my old group to go to China and Harley can use his contacts to find his partner and go to Norway."

Peter nods and pats Tony which Tony turns into a hug. Peter finds MJ's room and knocks on the door, after a few seconds she opens up and Peter forgets how to breathe for a moment. A few moments of awkward silence later MJ speaks up.

"So did you just knock to disturb me or did you have anything to say to me?"

"I... uh..." Peter starts to stammer, "We have decided where we should go next."

"We?"

"Yeah, me and Tony."

"Oh," She looked slightly disappointed and continued. "Ok, I'll get my stuff ready and wait for Harley."

"Why are you going to wait for Harley?" Peter asks out of genuine curiosity.

"You just said you and Stark are going to go to the next destination."

It clicks for Peter a second later and when it does he starts to panic and speak all over the place. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant Tony and I decided that both of us should go to Wales while he and Harley split up with their groups and go to their destination. I mean you don't have to come with me, Tony just thought that would be the best choice considering I have a ....."

"You have what?" MJ asks after a few seconds he finishes his rambling.

Thankfully for Peter Harley interrupted the moment, "Pete, I have a person in mind to go to Norway with."

"Oh, who?"

"Cassie Lang"

"Cassie Lang? As in the daughter of Scott Lang? The same Scott Lang who is infamous for stealing tech right under Darren Cross?"

"Yeah" Harley replies chipperly.

"Ok, what guarantee do you have that she won't just take the treasure if it's there?" MJ asks

"Well, first of all, Honour Among Thieves, so she wouldn't steal off of us. Secondly, I've worked with her before and both of us complement each other. And last but not least she owes me a favor after I got her, her last job so she isn't going to betray us or do anything that dramatic."

Peter thinks for a few seconds before giving Harley a smirk and saying, "Ok. Take Cassie and go to Norway. MJ and I are going to Wales, so if anyone of us has found The Treasure we are close by we can contact each other and get there on time."

Peter and MJ quickly got ready to head out to their next destination but before that, they said their farewells to Harley and Tony. They looked at each other and gave a look that could be translated into 'We got this'.


	17. Chapter 17: Cassie and Harley

Harley called Cassie as soon as he could. They both agreed to meet up in Norway, so Harley had to take Tony's plane to Oslo Gardermoen Airport. Harley got his luggage ready and got on a bus to go to Kochi from where he could get Tony's plane to fly all the way Dubai.

After hours of traveling, Harley finally reached the airport where he could finally stretch his legs and get something to eat to satisfy his hunger (not that they didn't have a stop for eating, but he couldn't eat too much due to the 10-minute break). He made his way into the airport and showed the message written by Tony allowing him to take the plane. The security asks him to wait for a few minutes to verify the message.

After the message has been verified, they escort him to the hanger where they stored the plane. The plane was a Grumman G-21 Goose, it had enough space for 8 people and was a seaplane with duel thrusters. When they reached the hanger the plane already has a pilot waiting for him to join him. He texts Cassie to give her a heads up when he's ready to leave with a pilot.

"So how long have you been a pilot for?" Harley initiates a conversation.

"Around 2 years, although this is my first time flying a plane like this." He replies with a Russian accent.

"Ah okay, I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name before."

"Sergei Kravinoff"

"I'm Harley Keener. Nice to meet you."

"Believe me the pleasure is all mine. But first, we have to head to Mumbai to refuel and then to Dubai. Or else we won't reach our destination."

"Ok, that's fine. As long as we reach there in one piece it's fine."

Sergei chuckles when Harley finishes the statement, it was a creepy chuckle. But Harley thought it was just his imagination due to the past few days. He then decides to text everyone what he's doing and got replies saying him to be careful because Tony didn't ask for a pilot.

In a couple of hours, they reach Mumbai Harley and go to buy food for Sergei and himself. But when he comes back Sergei had news for him.

"I'm sorry but I don't think I'll be able to continue with you on the rest of the journey, I have received news about my daughter and I'll have to go to her immediately." And before Harley could speak he left. 'That was strange' Harley thought to himself. Harley gets inside the plane and then starts the 4-hour journey to Dubai.

To say Cassie was excited was an understatement. The moment Harley contacted her asking for her help, she couldn't stop smiling. She got her stuff ready for leaving for Norway. She knew Peter was the one that was after the Treasure for whatever reason but it couldn't be too bad since Peter wasn't a bad person by any definition.

She packed her bags with a minimal amount of things, she didn't want the bag to be too heavy nor did she want to have very little things, and knowing Harley he didn't pack enough things for himself so she also packed clothes that would fit him. She got help from her dad to get the latest flight to Dubai and texted Harley about getting on the flight.

Cassie's ride to Norway wasn't exciting but she had a nervous excitement to meet up and hang out with Harley again. She looked at her phone when she was waiting for her bag to come through, the last message from Harley was when he left from Mumbai and there was no update after that. She thought it was weird that he hasn't updated her after that, it shouldn't be a big deal he might have just forgotten to text her. Cassie took it upon herself to call him and just update him on her situation. But the call went straight to a message saying his phone was off.

'Ok, he probably forgot to charge his phone.' Cassie thought to herself. 'He'll call me as soon as he switches it on.' So as a distraction she looks at international news (since she is in Norway). Then her heart jumped into her throat as she read a news about a private plane crashing in the Arabian Desert. And the plane matched the description of Tony's plane.


	18. Chapter 18: Wrecked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Harley gets to the wrecked plane, he notices the smell of fuel and a hot engine, which isn't in any danger of exploding. But Harley doesn't want to risk the chance, he takes a quick peek around the plane in the hopes of noticing something that could potentially be helpful. And after two rounds of walking around, he managed to salvage a pistol and some extra magazines of ammo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, first of all, I'm sorry to not have updated this in a long time. I had some inspiration problems but now I believe I'm back for good, and hopefully finish this story. And this chapter is kind of sloppy, no matter how much I worked on it, I can't seem to get it right. But that being said, the next chapter will be much better.
> 
> Thanks folks!

** Chapter 18: Wrecked **

Harley knew everything was going too well for this to not happen. He should have been more vigilant about Kravinoff. The good thing was the plane had a parachute so he could jump off before it crashed. Now he had to survive through the Arabian Desert. The good thing was people would come into the desert as a part of tourism but he was sure no one would come this far into the desert without proper equipment.

The crashed plane might have something that Harley could use, so he decides to search the wreckage first and then using his basic geography to find a way to the closest city. As he landed he realized how hot the desert is, this led him to brisk walking to the plane.

"Well, shit." Harley thought. "But come to think of it, this can't get any worse."

As Harley gets to the wrecked plane, he notices the smell of fuel and a hot engine, which isn't in any danger of exploding. But Harley doesn't want to risk the chance, he takes a quick peek around the plane in the hopes of noticing something that could potentially be helpful. And after two rounds of walking around, he managed to salvage a pistol and some extra magazines of ammo.

"Right, now the first thing for me to do is to find a city" Harley starts his train of thought, "Good thing is I know which way I was heading, and I can use that information to find my next destination. Ok, part one of this plan, where is the closest area with people. I know Dubai is my actual destination and I managed to crash close to it. So theoretically, if I keep heading in the same direction as I should reach Dubai in like 3 to 4 days."

And so begins Harley's journey through the Arabian Desert. As the day turns into night, Harley stops to see if there's any indication of how far he's walked this one day. It takes him a moment but he sees a caravan of Nomads on top of a dune. Gathering up all his strength he runs after the Nomads to see if he can group with them till he finds a way back.

Due to a celestial amount of luck, Harley managed to speak with the Nomad leader and he was back on his way to being escorted back to Dubai.

The next night, as everyone is getting ready for sleep. The guard alerts everyone and wakes them up to fight the incoming wave of Bandits. Harley quickly unholstered his pistol and got in cover.

Just as Harley thought, the bandits started raining fire to keep everyone under control. But he had been in stickier situations before, so he took a deep breath and started firing back while in cover. This counter-attack was a surprise for everyone and for a moment the firing ceased, which Harley used as perfect timing to take down a few more of the bandits and shoot them down.

And using this distraction to its maximum advantage the Nomads fought back with equal ferocity and managed to win this time. The leader then thanked Harley for the bravery he had shown and they had no troubles during the rest of their time in the Arabian Desert.


End file.
